A Trump administration official argued that the White House press secretary could technically be considered a “lawyer.” Legal experts have disputed that argument.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia did not pass the California bar exam when she took it after graduating from law school, according to a senior administration official.
The official argued that Zacharia could technically be considered a “lawyer,” though not an attorney. Donald Trump referred to Zacharia as an “attorney” in his Truth Social post announcing that he was tapping her as press secretary.
But several lawyers told NBC News that “lawyer” is widely understood to refer to someone who has passed the bar exam and is licensed to practice law.
Zacharia’s failure to pass the bar exam was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The new White House press secretary is facing questions about her legal credentials after the White House has not said whether Zacharia, who has repeatedly referred to herself as a lawyer, passed the bar exam.
I’m still weirded out that you can graduate law school without passing a bar exam anywhere.
What!? What about China? Didn’t she pass it in China? Pretty sure she passed it in China!
Isn’t it illegal to impersonate a lawyer?
Pepperidge farm remembers Jill Biden EdD being disparaged for appropriately using the title doctor. Party of hypocrites every one.
The law says that misrepresenting yourself as one who practices or may practice law is the violation. It does not specify that you refer to yourself by any specific terms.
There is no legal distinction between “lawyer” or “attorney” in California law. And speaking from nearly 4 decades of being an American and native English speaker, there is no colloquial difference either. They are used interchangeablly.
Whatever lax meaning they are trying to project onto the term “lawyer” was made up wholecloth by them to obfuscate her (criminal) lie.
She passed the most important test for this regime: the ability to brazenly lie to the public.
Nah. The most important test was being a blonde woman kinda looking like Ivanka looking at her with your eyes half closed.
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Trump has alternative meanings to common words.
Why is he in charge of ANYTHING???
She called herself a lawyer, she is not. Repercussions please.
Edit: Ahhh ha ha ha, then she throws the president of her university under the bus
The new White House press secretary told the New York Times on Wednesday that when she first began appearing on cable news, she had asked Pepperdine how she should identify herself.
She said she was advised by the university president that she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.
What’s the over/under on her tenure vs the mooch?
